Before you can start building anything at all, you will need to get some sort of workshop.

This can start very small with just a room in your home as long as you are building the empenage kit. There is no need for an aircraft hangar when you start building but you will soon find out that space is always a problem and that in cramped places, you tend to loose a lot of your stuff just because it's so much more difficult to organise.
The advantage of being able to build in your own house - definitly in the beginning - is that you don't have to physically move to another location to do something. When you have a local room, you will be there much more frequently and your project will move faster. That way, you can easily slip into your workshop and do something small, even if it's just for a half hour. And that's one of the key points in the building process. Keep at it ! Stay busy all the time !

VANS Aircraft recommends having a shop the size of a double car garage.
I started of in a one car garage. It was often too small when I started with the wings. Certainly as I wanted to build both wings simultaniously. Once I started the fuselage front, the garage was just too small.

For the construction of different parts which are build as individual parts such as elevators, empenage, flaps,..., many manufacturers are in their garage or in their cellar or even a spare room.

Fortunatly I moved to a newer home with a double car garage and now my workshop is much more luxurious and also more fun to build. However, I can already see the lack of space growing once the canoe will be ready and rolled over.

So my advice on this would be: yes, look for size and make sure your workshop can be easily heated during those cold winter months. But there's nothing wrong with starting small and moving along the way.

For mating the wings, my terrace is large enough now and enclosed so that the plane can stay outside under a tent for the time it takes to drill those two holes that define the inclanation of the wings.
But then again, at some point, I will have to find a bigger place like a hangar on an airfield to finalize the last bits. But we’re not there yet, one thing at a time …

Some final remark on the word "Fortunatly" that I used some sentences above.

Well actually it was not fortunately... remember one thing very well when you start your build process: the is a law of nature for airplane builders.
A lot of builders go through the following three changes in life during the building or their project : many of us builders have changed House, changed Job and changed Wife

I was convinced that was all just bullshit and nothing like that would happen to me.

Currently I already had two of these events taking place into my life. This article talks about the house, some time later I suffered from AIDS : Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrom.
If you plan on start building an airplane, you will need time. Lot's of time in your workshop. Make sure you involve your family and spouse in the build. 


Before you can call a garage a workshop, there are some fundamental things that need to change.

To start with, the ceiling in my garage is not covered and will create quite a bit of dust. That will have to be handled first.
We will need to create a workbench and I'll have to figure out what the best possible layout is to work in as space in my 1 car garage is very limited.

My garage is very very small, so every inch counts.

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It’s possible (not likely) that I’m not as smart as I think I am. (Occasionally, I have moments when I know this to be true. Fortunately, the feeling passes quickly.) Although I have tried to make this information as accurate as I can, it is not only possible, but also quite likely, that erroneous and misguided information lurks within these pages. I cannot and do not warrant these pages to be error free and correct. Furthermore, I accept no liability for the use of this (mis)information. And, as many would say, your mileage may vary. If, after reading this, you are intent on proceeding, please be aware that the contents of this site are protected by copyright (copyright © 2011 and 2012). Nonetheless, you may copy this material subject to these two conditions: (1) any information used is for non-commercial purposes, and (2) the source of the material is properly credited. Of course, you may link to any page herein. At some articles, snippets of the plans from Vans are visible. These are for educational and illustrations purposes only and should never be used as plans for part construction or assembly as plans may have changed since the picture was taken and more important they are protected by Copyright by the Vans Aircraft Mothership company.